The Vacation

Los Angeles-based quartet the Vacation pour their blood, sweat, and beer into their rock n' roll, "glue[ing] together Detroit scuzz, hook-y retro punk à la the Damned and shout-along glam choruses" (Rolling Stone). Identical twins Ben and Steve Tegel (vocals and guitar, respectively), Eric "Dutch" Suoninen (bass), and Denny Weston, Jr. (drums) first got noticed playing at local dive bar the Kibitz Room, formerly ground zero for fellow L.A. bands Guns 'n Roses and the Wallflowers. This led to a UK tour and a spot playing at the Reading & Leeds festivals to crowds of thousands. Soon after, they released their first album, produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Supergrass). "There are glimmers of everything from classic-rock guitar heroics to metal swagger in the swirl of ripped-jeans grooves on the Vacation's debut, Band From World War Zero" (SPIN). Britain's NME hailed it as "a menagerie of musical wonder that you could dance, fuck or drink to" and compared the band's approach to "Keith Richards or Iggy Pop slapping his meaty cock across Marc Bolan's pasty face." Even the BBC raved about the LP's "well-oiled animal magnetism" and called The Vacation "stadium-size entertainers." The boys got the attention of Rick Rubin who signed the band to his label, American Recordings, where the album was remastered, resequenced, and re-released as The Vacation. After touring the U.S., Canada, and the UK with bands such as the Living Things, Diamond Nights, the Rock 'n Roll Soldiers, the Willowz, Alice Cooper, and the Shys, the Vacation have been back in Los Angeles recording the future of rock n'roll. Their new album (which the band released themselves), "Get Used," was made available online on May 20, 2008. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.